Kottawa
suburb in Western Province, Sri Lanka
Kottawa (Sinhala: කොට්ටාව, Tamil: கொட்டாவை) is one of the main suburbs in Colombo, Sri Lanka and is administered by the Maharagama Urban Council. It is located 21 km (13 mi) from the centre of Colombo. It is a five-way junction and lies as the epicenter for Maharagama road, Homagama road, Piliyandala road, Malabe road and Borella road.
History
The name Kottawa might be derived from the Sinhalese phrase kotten awa, meaning "just arrived from Kotte" and later the name was shortened to "Kottawa". Another contemporary opinion is that it's the "city of the great one". The town was part of the Kottawa Electoral District which existed between 1960 and 1977 and has been identified as one of the main transportation hubs of Colombo. Kottawa comprises five grama niladhari divisions: north, south, east, west and city.
During the Sri Lankan Civil War, Kottawa's strategic location on one of the main roads connecting Panagoda Cantonment to Colombo made it a target for attacks. In 2004, 7 alleged Tamil Makkal Viduthalai Pulikal militants were killed in a pre-dawn attack blamed on the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. In June 2006, Major General Parami Kulatunga was killed by a suicide bomber just after passing Kottawa on his way to the Army Headquarters in Colombo from his residence in Panagoda.
“Kottawa” enters the record as suburb in Western Province, Sri Lanka. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Kottawa, suburb and Western can confirm, complicate or overturn.
Why this record matters
“Kottawa” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Kottawa, suburb and Western provides the most credible route into that argument.
The strongest evidence will usually combine a dated visual record with documents produced by the authority responsible for the place. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 8, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q6434310. The first chronological checks are 1960, 1977, 2004 and 2006.
A single description cannot reconcile every naming convention, rebuilding phase or administrative transfer associated with a place. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Kottawa”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Kottawa primary sources, Kottawa archive and Kottawa research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Kottawa”?
- What physical evidence or contemporary plan supports the description?
- Which earlier names or jurisdictions may reveal additional records?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Kottawa” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.